Sonoma County has not been spared by the national economic recession, but economist Steve Cochrane says its effects should be less severe here, with recovery underway by this time next year.

Even though unemployment is up for Sonoma County, and other economic indicators reflect the local effects of the global recession, Cochrane says that, so far at least, our area is weathering the downturn better than many other regions.
     
It will likely take most of the next 12 months for the Sonoma County housing market to stabilize, Cochrane predicts, with joblessness following a similar arc back toward more acceptible levels late this year and in early 2010.

 

Cochran also conducts research for the Sonoma County Innovation Council , which has recently released its own economic forecast, viewable here.

New year's resolutions aren't just for individuals; local businesses also can, and quite possibly should, pledge to take fresh actions in 2009.

Ben Stone, Executive Director of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board (above) offers this advice to business owners as the new year begins:

For workers, 2009 will also likely be an unsettled year. In the following audio clip, Stone suggests some creative approaches to keeping paychecks coming for those who may find themselves "downsized."

If humankind were to vanish from the Earth, which of our artifacts would be the first to follow us, and what would endure the longest? Find out here .

Small and mid-sized manufacturing companies in Sonoma County and northern Marin are banding together to raise their public profile, and their collective clout in a new trade organization called Santa Rosa MFG.

Santa Rosa MFG was established with a broad vision of how it can support and help grow the local manufacturing sector, as Dick Herman (seen here addressing the press conference) explains:

A sampling of the products made by some of the founding members of Santa Rosa MFG were on display at their press conference Monday (see photo below), and Herman says the full array of items made by area companies is impressively diverse.

[Thanks to Stephen Rustad and Rustad Marketing of Santa Rosa for the photographs in this posting]